The PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission will identify and study thousands of exoplanetary systems, with an emphasis on discovering and characterising Earth-sized planets and super-Earths. (ESA/C. CARREAU)

Europe will launch a space observatory a decade from now to hunt for Earth-like planets circling distant stars, officials announced Wednesday.

The European Space Agency has selected a space telescope called PLATO — short for Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars — as its newest medium-class science mission. The observatory, which is slated to blast off in 2024, will scan up to a million stars for signs of orbiting planets, with an emphasis on worlds that could be similar to our own.

"PLATO will begin a completely new chapter in the exploration of extrasolar planets," mission leader Heike Rauer, of the German Aerospace Center, said in a statement. "We will find planets that orbit their star in the life-sustaining habitable zone — planets where liquid water is expected, and where life as we know it can be maintained." [The Search For Another Earth (Video)]